Friday, July 11, 2014

I am incredibly excited. The last time I had the privilege of attending Fantasia was in 1998, at its one and only Toronto engagement. That time I was selling t-shirts in the lobby. This time I get to premiere a film I wrote and directed.

A great examination of Spielberg's often surprisingly subtle use of a technique most often deployed as a cinematic show-off. What's most interesting is that Spielberg -- one of cinema's most legendary show-offs -- tends to use it for reasons of economy, rather than spectacle. I'm always blown away by how effective the oners in Jaws are, but I don't think I ever noticed that Marion Ravenwood's classic introductory scene in Raiders Of The Lost Ark was also accomplished in a single extended take.

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Maddie Greene has written a lovely article reminiscing about Warren Ellis's much-missed comics messageboard The Engine, which is a place I frequented in the mid-2000s as long as it was active. It was a great site, many great things came of it, and it ended on a high note -- all likely factors in why it remains so well-remembered.

Maddie's assembled quotes from many comics pros who were part of it, including yours truly -- although my time as a comic pro was limited to one six-issue series, Revolution On The Planet Of The Apes -- but it's nice to be included. Thanks for the shout-out. I meant every word.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

I'm really, really pleased about this. We're one of the only items on the list that isn't a major studio release and/or featuring major cast. Justin Erickson did such a fabulous job designing the poster, and it's very gratifying to see it punch through on its own merits. Here's hoping it's a bellwether for the movie itself when it debuts this August.

Sunday, March 09, 2014

I love pulp stories for their potent blend of simple storytelling and boundless imagination (when I wrote and directed Devil's Mile, the tone I told everyone I was going for was "pulpy"). Populist tales, driven by market and word count, and written at a blistering pace that left little time for authorial reflection or scholarly ambition. As such, they tend to be works of instinct over intellect, inner critics crushed under the weight of sheer pragmatism and imagination left to flourish, unfettered, in a way that is almost childlike.

Case in point.

They are words banged out by writers whose desire to keep a roof over their heads and food in their mouths likely outweighed any lofty love of craft. And yet despite a mercenary environment practically designed with the lowest-common-denominator in mind, lasting, even classic works emerged -- H.P. Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard spring immediately to mind -- and continue to influence new generations of creators to this day.

I'm fascinated by pulp writer and Doc Savage creator Lester Dent's famous "Master Plot" formula because it represents such a strong and unpretentious distillation of the elements of effective storytelling. It's a document that could only be forged in a crucible of deadlines and financial necessity. The inessential and the indulgent are burned away; what remains is what works.

about

my name's joe, and I make movies. i'm the writer-producer-director of the supernatural crime thriller devil's mile. i also co-wrote the kiwi cannibal cult comedy fresh meat and the miniseries robocop: prime directives.